SECDEF Mattis to North Korea: ‘You’re no match for us’

(National Sentinel) War Drums: Defense Secretary James Mattis put North Korean leader Kim Jong-un his military is no match for the United States, and that if he doesn’t end his pursuit of nuclear weapons he faces destruction.

“Make no mistake,” he said, “any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.”

The SECDEF issued that warning during a news conference in which he was accompanied by his South Korean counterpart, Defense Minister Song Young-moo, Fox News reported.

Though he did not go past those policy statements, he did say that the situation with North Korea was becoming more dire by the week due to Pyongyang’s “outlaw” behavior.

“North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs,” he said, as The Hill reported.

Citing CIA sources, Reuters reported North Korea could be only months away from developing the capability to reach the United States with a nuclear-tipped ICBM.

To that end, Mattis added that the United States has limits as to the level of threat it will tolerate.

Mattis said America has limits to what it will accept.

“I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power,” he said.

What’s more, Mattis said that by developing nuclear weapons Pyongyang is risking losing the very security it claims to seek via its missile and nuclear programs.

“If it remains on its current path of ballistic missiles and atomic bombs, it will be counterproductive, in effect reducing its security,” he said.

Mattis also heard concerns from his South Korean counterpart that North Korea’s massive artillery near the DMZ would be difficult to defend against.

“Understood,” Mattis said, adding that the U.S. and its allies have developed a plan to “realistically reduce that threat (to South Korea) as low as possible.”